The present invention relates to an apparatus for correcting and aligning misshapened vehicle frame and body portions, and more particularly to apparatus of the type having a pair of parallel elongate track members for supporting a vehicle in an elevated position and at least one pull tower carrying pulleys and a flexible connector for exerting pulling forces on various portions of the vehicle, selectively positionable along the outer side of each track member.
Though similar apparatus are known from the prior art, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,783 (Eck, 1989) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,737 (Specktor, 1979), hitherto, to the best knowledge of the inventor, none provide a rapid and largely automated method of securing the vehicle frame or body so as to firmly resist the counter forces subjected to it during the alignment or straightening process.
While bolster means have been disclosed in the prior art, they were usually limited to manually positioned rod like elements which were individually secured to the underside of a vehicle and cooperating receiving spaces in the supporting frame. Aside from inconvenience of the amount of time required for the operation, an operator would have to position himself under the vehicle body and placement of the bolster rods were limited to the positions of available receiving spaces on the support frame.